The Rising Popularity Of “Pyramid Game” Alerts South Korean Schools

According to reports on March 21, KST, multiple elementary and middle schools in Korea, particularly in Jeonju, have issued a “Guidance Letter” to prevent the imitation of Pyramid Game by students.

The TVING K-Drama Pyramid Game started premiering on February 29 and has been rising in popularity steadily. But schools in Jeonju seem to be concerned about the influence it might cast on its younger viewers. So, many of these institutions have sent a guidance letter to parents, expressing concern and asking parents to engage and guide their kids actively.

The phenomenon of group bullying disguised as a game is spreading in schools due to the K-Drama ‘Pyramid Game,’ which was recently released on TVING. ‘Pyramid Game’ deals with issues of classism and violence in school, where students are divided into ranks, and consequently, students with lower grades get bullied by those with higher grades.

— The guidance letter

The letter also added that though the imitations based on this show might start out as simple games, it is very likely to produce serious school violence, turning specific students into targets. In the letter, they asked parents to pay close attention so that this game does not turn into an avenue for bullying and violence.

The K-Drama Pyramid Game tells the story of Class 2-5 at Baekyeon Girls’ High School, where students have created a miniature social hierarchy among themselves based on a brutal game that divides the class into perpetrators, victims, and bystanders through a monthly vote. The ranking ranges from A to F, and lower-ranking students are subjected to harassment, tasked with cleaning the classroom, serving meals, and even enduring emotional and physical abuse.

Though the broader vision behind this plot is to uphold society’s flaws by presenting a mini version of it through the Class 2-5, younger children are in no way adept at grasping the concept. The concern that on-screen violence leads to disastrous consequences in real life is not unfounded either, given that school violence is a pressing concern in Korean society. In fact, in 2022, after the tragic Itaewon crowd crush incident that claimed over 150 lives, many young Korean students were seen turning it into a dangerous “game” inside classrooms. You can read more about it here.